This morning the major thoroughfare through Waikiki was shut down for the 2010 Aloha Festivals Floral Parade, so we decided to walk over to watch it. I've actually never seen the Floral Parade in person but I've seen pictures of it growing up. The highlight are the pa'u riders, a queen and two princess and male escorts riding horses and bedecked in flowers the color of each island. It's really lovely to see in person! I foolishly didn't bring my camera, so I have no pics of my own. Luckily the internet provides! First off, I found out exactly what pa'u riders are. When the horse was introduced to the islands in the 19th century, Hawaiian women wouldn't ride side-saddle like the women of the time were supposed to. They rode wearing their flowing dresses. More info here. At many parades around the state there are pa'u riders with male escorts in cowboy gear. Some pics from various parades here, here, and here. I personally adored the Oahu court, which is yellow for the pua 'ilima. The queen wore flowing yellow and black with yellow and green lei on her and her horse. Also lovely was Kaho'olawe (the uninhabited island used by the military for years for target practice but recently taken back by the...state? I think?), whose color is grey. So they wore grey and dark red, with lots of moss and dark red leaves in their lei. Amazingly gorgeous if not flashy like the other islands. The other islands were lovely as well, but those were my favs. I think I'm going to watch next year's parade as well.

One funny detail: the marching band of an all girl's Catholic school played Lady Gaga's Pokerface (I've never seen the video for this song before, but damn, this video is incredibly normal considering some of her other ones...) as they passed us. I was surprised at what a good marching band song it made (the staccato bits sound particularly good done by brass and percussion), and I was amused that an all-girl's Catholic school played anything by Lady Gaga. XD;